


Haunt

by FISHNONES, Shi_Toyu



Series: Inktober 2018 [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man: Armored Adventures, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Art, But Older Kid, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Digital Art, Gen, Good Dad Howard Stark, Howard Stark's Good Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Inktober, Inktober 2018, Inspired by Art, Inspired by Fanart, Kid Tony Stark, Not Really Character Death, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Out of Body Experiences, Protective Steve Rogers, Teen Tony Stark, Temporary Character Death, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18324164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FISHNONES/pseuds/FISHNONES, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: FISHNONES's Inktober art accompanied by a short ficlet by Shi_ToyuDay 7: Haunt





	Haunt

**Author's Note:**

> Art is by FISHNONES  
> Fic is by Shi_Toyu
> 
> Original art post can be viewed on FISHNONES's Tumblr [ here ](http://hello-shellhead.tumblr.com/post/178828914601/that-feeling-when-you-suddenly-find-yourself) and Shi_Toyu's Tumblr can be found [ here. ](https://shi-toyu.tumblr.com/)

Everything was hazy when Tony first came to. It was like that one time Ty had convinced him to try those pain killers and suddenly the world had felt a thousand miles away. He felt… light, almost as if he were floating. Tony scrunched up his nose, trying to get a feel for his surrounding, trying to figure out what he’d been doing before he’d passed out or… whatever had happened. He’d just finished the fabrication for the armor he’d been working on and he was so excited to show it to his dad. He’d been keeping the project a secret, wanting to really wow his dad this time. Obie had been there and they’d been going through the testing exercises, making sure everything was working the way it should…

Tony’s eyes snapped open as he remembered the sharp pain, the _agony_ that had exploded in his chest.

No, _no!_ That wasn’t right! Obie couldn’t have-!

His panic skyrocketed as he found himself in his own room, back at the Stark Tower. He and his dad had moved there once Howard started supporting the Avengers and made it their base of operations. It wasn’t shocking to find himself there. Sometimes Steve or Thor would find him after he’d fallen asleep in his dad’s lab and carry him back up here. No, what was really causing his heart to clench was the fact that Tony was staring down at _himself_ in the bed.

The Tony in the bed was too-still, bruises covering his face and arms where they were visible. An IV drip was in one arm and countless other machines crowded the space, measuring his heartrate and breathing and what looked like brain activity. A mask covered his nose and mouth, covering up the spare patches of beard Tony was trying so desperately to grow, giving him what Tony could only assume was oxygen. The most horrifying part, though, were the wires and tubes leading to the gaping wound in Tony’s chest. It was covered with bandages, but Tony knew what lay underneath, could feel even now the phantom pain of the metal splinters entering his skin.

Tony’s breath caught. Or it would have if he could breath. Tony twisted around to stare at himself, not the self that was in the bed but the- the- the _not body_ he had now. He looked like one of JARVIS’s projections, a blue-tinted light making up a figure, but there was no _substance_ there. He was still in the hoody and ripped jeans he’d been wearing when he’d stepped into the armor, but he couldn’t feel any weight to the clothing like he normally could. And he was _floating_! Shit, no! Shit, fuck, no! What was happening? Was he-? Had he-?

The door banged open, startling him out of his panic and making him swipe frantically at his eyes instinctively to hide the tears. Stark men were made of iron and there was no way he was getting caught-

“Well, then I suggest you try something else!” Howard Stark snarled over his shoulder as he stormed into the room, face angrier than Tony had ever seen it. “I’m not accepting that as an answer!”

“M-Mr. Stark, please! I understand that this is a difficult situation, but-“

“Son,” Steve’s voice cut in, and Tony had heard that tone before. Steve was in full Captain America Mode, probably scowling disapprovingly and everything, “just don’t.”

Then he stepped into the room after Howard and shut the door behind them. He wasn’t in uniform, but his standard button-up and khakis looked downright disheveled, which was very strange. Tony wasn’t used to seeing him like that. And Tony’s dad… Fuck, he looked even worse. He wore a three-piece suit impeccably and there wasn’t a hair out of place but, the second Steve had shut the door, all of his anger had vanished, and he’d just sort of… deflated. His eyes, darkened by heavy bags underneath, were riveted on Tony’s form where it lay on the bed as he stumbled closer, sitting on the edge to take one of Tony’s limp hands in his own. Tony’s chest _ached_ as _his_ hand felt warmed by the contact.

It was clear neither man could see him, Steve’s gaze sliding right over him as he gave the room a quick glance.

“Oh, Tony,” his dad murmured, sounding close to tears himself and no, _no_ , Tony could _not_ deal with it if his dad cried. “We’re gonna fix this,” he promised. “I don’t care what the doctor says about brain function and outlook. We will find a way and, if we can’t, I will _make one_. You’re gonna be just fine, okay, kiddo? You’re gonna wake up and I’m gonna ground you for the rest of your _life_ , I don’t care if you’re already a legal adult, and everything’s gonna be _just fine_.”

“Howard…” Steve said softly, stepping forward to place a hand on one of his dad’s shoulders. “It’s been a week already. You can’t keep going like this. You need to rest.”

“I’ll rest when my son can open his eyes again,” Howard snapped.

Steve didn’t seem to take his anger personally, though. He just squeezed his shoulder gently.

“We all want to help Tony,” he reassured. “Natasha and Clint are still working through what was left of the security footage from the lab to see if they can recover anything, trying to figure out what caused the explosion. Bruce has reached out to some of his lesser-known contacts in the medical world. I think he’s hopeful for word back from a.. Dr. Cho, maybe? Even Doctor Strange has sent over a message saying he’ll be by to take a look at Tony’s condition as soon as he’s finished with his current inter-dimensional threat. _Everyone_ is making this their top priority, Howard, even if it was only an accident caused by Tony screwing around. But you’re not going to be of any use to him if you’re so tired you can’t see straight.”

Howard sat with his head bowed for a long, silent moment, and Tony struggled not to notice the way his shoulders shook. When he spoke again, his dad’s voice was wet.

“I just… What was he thinking, Steve? Lab safety _first_. I’ve always been so careful to try and teach him that and even when he was at MIT, nothing like this… I already lost Maria. What am I going to do if-?”

“Hey, now, none of that,” Steve cut him off sternly, just like he would when Tony was too far in his head and trying to solve problems that didn’t even exist yet. “You said it yourself, Tony’s going to be just fine. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll grab something to eat. You can take a nap and get anything sorted out with SI that you need to, and then we’ll focus back on Tony. You need to take care of yourself, too.”

Howard was already waving him off, though.

“Obie’s taking care of SI. He’ll handle anything that comes up there. My place is here, with my son.”

_‘No, dad! Obie is-’_

Tony cut himself off, suddenly remembering why he hadn’t talked earlier. Neither of them could _hear_ him. And, since it sounded like Obie had destroyed the security tapes with whatever he’d done, that meant nobody knew he’d been the one behind the ‘accident’, either. Anger boiled inside of Tony and his hands fisted at his sides.

Fine, then, he decided as he slipped through the window to hover just outside of the tower, mentally calculating which floor Obie’s office was on from out here. If nobody else was going to be able to do something about Obie’s schemes, Tony would just have to do it himself.


End file.
